


Year Three: True Natures

by darkesky, timerise



Series: THE TREE [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter - Freeform, Hogwarts, Marauders, jily, marauder era, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:58:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkesky/pseuds/darkesky, https://archiveofourown.org/users/timerise/pseuds/timerise
Summary: these boys just yeet and yeet





	1. James

James shushed Sirius as they crept down the hallway. It was inconvenient of course, that they needed to search the Forbidden Section for the book on animagi, but they would make do. They always did. They never ended up bring Peter on their adventures due to how _loud_ their friend was. James worried however, that McGonagall would hear them. She definitely would if Sirius kept making all that ruckus.

“Sirius. She _will_ hear us. We just have to make sure she doesn’t think it’s us… Instead, a mouse or something. Not a lanky-ass third year Sirius Black whose slippers make way too much noise!”

“Don’t be a bitch,” he hissed back. “These are my only slippers that _aren’t_ hexed. Regulus really went to town on accidental magic this summer.”

James stifled a laugh. He turned back to say something to Sirius, but saw his face as white as a sheet. He turned again to be eye-to-eye with McGonagall.

“Uh-uh-er- Hello. Professor. Lovely… night,” James grinned sheepishly.

Sirius made a face at James. “Fancy meeting you here, Minnie. Can you _believe_ I sleep-walked all the way here?”

McGonagall looked them over, unamused. “You boys understand I ought to give you detention for a week.”

James swallowed thickly. “Well, I’m sure we could reach a compro-”

The old woman cut him off. “However, I have something of an ideas as to the, well, the nature of your… excursion. Of course, it would be completely against the rules for me to tell you that the window second from the left into the Forbidden Section has a broken lock, or that the books on self-transformation are roughly fourteen rows in.”

The boys stared at her in stunned silence. She sighed and placed her hand on James’s shoulder. “As I will tell you none of this information, I don’t need to worry about you being careful and responsible in this search. That the trustworthy book is under Carecort’s name, not Fluoripian. And that Remus cares more about your well-being than his lonely nights.”

With that, she stepped back into the dark hall from where she came.

“Holy shit, did that just happen?” Sirius whispered.

James blinked hard. “Pinch me.”

Without skipping a beat, Sirius pinched him. When James yelped, he nodded. “Well, I guess we’re not dreaming. I… Did she just give us permission to break the law?”

James sighed. “Remus must be doing worse than we thought. C’mon, we don’t have much time.”

The two of them ran through the halls, only quieting their footfalls when they reached the wall that separated the two libraries.

James stood on his tiptoes and slammed the heel on his hand on the wood panel of the specified window. It swung open with a crack. “This is so Bad-Ass,” he whispered reverently.

“Do you know what’s more badass?” Sirius responded, already climbing through the window. He stood a little taller than James, making it a _lot_ easier for him to get through. “Becoming a dragon animagus.”

James snorted. “Like hell.” He followed Sirius through. They stood in the center of a room they had never entered. “Uhm… Oh! _Accio Carecort!”_

Roughly eight books pummeled the two of them at once.

Sirius glanced at all of them. “We’re taking all of these. I’m sure they’ll be useful.”

James nodded solemnly and began stuffing one under his pajama shirt. “In case we get caught.”

“I’m sure it’ll be obvious later… I can’t believe your invisibility cloak is too busy covering our work to be used. We need, like, _two_ invisibility cloaks,” Sirius muttered as he enchanted several to grow smaller and shoved them into his pockets.

James grinned. “An invisibility set of big pajamas.” As soon as they had all the books packed away, they slipped back out into the night.

-

James sighed, tired after poring over the volumes of animagi magic. “I think we’ve read enough. Remus will be back in a few hours, we really should just get started Peter.”

“Lily and him are studying today! We can start then!” protested Peter. He idly flipped another page in the book, squinting at the words as he shoved another piece of chocolate in his mouth. “Besides, you and Sirius look like you’re about to fall asleep. I don’t want to screw up this magic.”

James kicked at the table leg. “I feel like they’re hanging out a lot now.”

“Wasn’t that the plan?” Sirius mumbled into his book where he was laying face-down.

James rolled his eyes. “Yeah… but like, without us encouraging them. Do you… do you really think he likes her, Sirius?”

“Geez, it’s Evans.” Sirius perked up then, rubbing a hand over his eyes and trying to fully wake up. “Who could even really like her?”

“I think she’s sweet,” chimed in Peter.

Sirius glared at him. “See, point proven. Peter is, like, a fake human being. Peter, if you throw that book at me, I’ll hex you.”

“Can’t hex a fake person,” Peter replied, sticking out his tongue.

James sprawled his upper half over the table and the books. “I bet she likes him back. That sucks. He’s too nice. No, that’s not true. Remus can be crazy funny-mean sometimes. But… he’s not her type!”

“I don’t think she has a type. Has Lily dated anyone?” Peter glanced over at Sirius for confirmation, and he shrugged.

James groaned. “This is so dumb! Whatever. At least he’s better than Snivellus.”

“Amen to that. What do we have to get done tonight?” Sirius changed the subject maybe a little _too_ eagerly, but both of them looked at James for instructions. He became the leader of the project, of sorts.

“We’ve got all the ingredients. We have to brew the mix and let it sit as a full body-mask overnight. It’s gonna be… Weird. But good, I think. Because then we should wake up as our animals.”

Sirius groaned. “I hate potions. And won’t Remus figure it out in the morning when he comes back?”

“I’m not waiting another month,” Peter muttered.

“We can all sleep in the bathroom,” James shrugged. “If any of us can’t transform back, the others keep him in there until we figure it out. Easy.”

“We need a cover story if it doesn’t work. If I’m stuck as a _dragon,”_ Sirius winked, “tell Remus I ended up spending the night with Marlene.”

“Gross. Believable. I like it.” James sighed and stood up. “Alright lads, let get to brewing.”

“And if this goes horribly, I call your beds.” Peter cast aside the rest of the books, stacking them neatly beneath the invisibility cloak to make sure they wouldn’t be spotted by Remus.

-

The feeling was strange. James knew he was still _James,_ but he was also… Someone else. Something else? He took a moment to evaluate. He had hooves- oh Merlin, if he was a unicorn- but wait, he had two horns. So… a bull? Or… He stood and looked himself in the mirror. A stag.

With that thought, he saw himself transform into a human.

“That shit is so tight!” He exclaimed. He saw the forms of two sleeping animals beneath him when he stopped to look. A brown rat and a black dog! James wondered which was which.

Quickly, he poked his head out the door to make sure Remus wasn’t yet back. Then he started stomping and yelling for his friends to wake up.

The rat startled immediately while the dog lazily lifted his head. After a few seconds, the rat let out a terrifyingly high-pitched squeak and transformed back into Peter. “We actually _did_ it?”

“Hell yeah, mate! Merlin’s beard, we actually did it! Now wake up Sirius, we gotta get out before Remus comes back.”

Sirius stumbled to his feet, shaking out his long fur, and waited. Then, he barked as panicked as a dog can get.

James blanched. “Sirius. Turn back right now.”

“It’s easy,” Peter quickly said. “Just think about changing back, and it _works._ Like, I don’t know how else to explain it.”

Sirius closed his eyes and waited a moment. Then, he snapped at Peter and looked offended.

“No bite!” James chastised. He heard something though, and saw Sirius’s tail start to wag. “Remus is- okay, Peter, out now! Sirius, stay. Down boy.”

Peter stifled a laugh as he ducked out of the bathroom. Then, loudly, he greeted their friend. “Hey, Remus! How was last night?”

James left the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He saw Remus grin. “Great! We worked with some people from Ravenclaw to get the Charms theories down. Say, where’s Sirius?”

James grinned weakly. “He spent the night with Marlene…?”  
Remus shook his head. “No, Marlene was there. He’s not in any trouble, is he?”

Nobody replied.

“Guys. Is he?”

Peter’s cheeks went bright red. “Holy shit, he has to be cheating on Marlene! He told us he was going on a date, and he conjured up flowers and _everything._ Who did he go on a date with?”

Remus gasped. “Not really!”

Peter nodded sincerely. “Yeah! I can’t believe it! You think you know a guy.”

Remus sighed. “I hope there’s a better explanation. Maybe he just spent all night throwing together a real big surprise for her?” Remus didn’t seem to like that thought.

James put his hand on Remus’s shoulder. “We’ll talk to him about it when _he gets back.”_ He hoped that last part reached Sirius in the bathroom.

“Until then, we might as well give up and get breakfast?” Peter offered weakly. When James and Remus stared at him, he laughed awkwardly. “Y’know, I wanna go see Marlene and see if anything gets cleared up. And nothing can be solved here in the dorm when we’re _all_ here.”

Remus nodded and left the room. James gestured for Peter to follow so it wouldn’t look strange.

He opened the bathroom door. “You need to fix this now.”

Sirius whined helplessly and resumed his pacing in the bathroom.

James knelt on the ground. “Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do. Close your eyes, I’m just gonna talk and you’re gonna pay real good attention to what I say. Hopefully, that’ll work.”

He waited for Sirius to do so before speaking. “You’re a dog right now. Picture yourself. Not-quite ratty, family dog looking mutt. Now picture yourself as a human. Your lanky limbs, ever growing hair, your love of candy, and some members of your family, and most importantly, your friends. Peter, me, Remus-”

And then he was back.

Sirius grinned, a little dazed. “That was really hard for me, Bambi.”

“Oh, don’t you dare, you dumb dog. What’re you, some lap mutt? Ratty-ass… Padf-Padfeet?”

“Please, dogs are the most _loyal_ pets… Wait, what color was I? I think it was black, but dogs are kinda color-blind so?” Sirius shrugged.

“Yeah, black. Or dark brown? No, definitely black. Like your hair. Ready to go tell Remus the “real reason” you were out all night?” James asked.

Sirius paused before shaking his head. “No way. We gotta get better control of it first.”

“No. I mean make up a reason.”

“Oh, that’s easy. I’ll go chat with Marlene for a bit, and then I’ll come up and say I chickened out or some shit.” He grinned crookedly. “He’ll be used to that with how often _both_ of you back out of asking Lily out.”

James blushed. “Oh, shut up you. C’mon, let’s eat.”


	2. Sirius

“I hate having this class with the Slytherins,” Sirius muttered to James. “Do you think hexing them counts as _defending ourselves from the dark arts?”_

Remus smiled and rolled his eyes. “They’re not all bad, Sirius. Sometimes Slytherins are kind and funny. Just… most of the ones we see are not.”

“Name _one_ Slytherin who doesn’t suck. Minus, like, Andromeda who doesn’t even _go_ here anymore.” Andromeda remained the one cousin he still spoke with. Sometimes, he wrote her letters to ask about her love affair with the muggle-born. She always wrote back with a _lot_ of choice words for the rest of the family.

She also happened to provide him with some information on Animagi, so she was definitely winning the Favorite Black Family Member race.

Remus rested his cheek on his hand. His floppy curls were in his eyes again. “Oh, there’s Madalena Minkleton. She’s a fifth year? And… Dorian Hemingway. He’s a fourth year I’ve talked to a bit.”

“Don’t count,” Sirius instantly retorted. “Just because Minkleton looks nice doesn’t _make_ her nice, if you know what I mean. Same goes for Hemingway.”

Remus shoved Sirius lightly. “I never said anything about their looks!”

“Yeah, but how do you _not_ notice Minkleton’s looks?” Peter added.

James sighed. “She kinda looks like Lily… But prettier.”

“Who knew you had a thing for redheads?” teased Sirius. Then, he paused and looked over at what the DADA teacher was doing. “What do you reckon is in the closet?”

Remus furrowed his brow. “Maybe some enchanted armor or something?” He chewed his lip, concentrated. “Or some very out of date robes.”

“You and dates today… Antsy to take a girl out?” Sirius said, struggling to keep the laughter out of his tone.

Remus flushed, ducking his head. “No. Not really.”

“Lily is looking over _here,”_ singsonged Peter. “This is your _chance.”_

Remus shook his head. “I-I don’t _like_ Lily!”

Sirius kicked James under the table. “Sure seems like you’re the one who’s going to ask her out when the time arises.”

James glared at the group. “You’re all wankers. All of you.”

“But you love us anyway,” drawled Sirius.

Before anyone else could reply, Lily crossed the room and leaned over their table. Her green eyes _glowed_ with excitement. Merlin, the only time he ever saw Lily animated was when they took tests… And he did _not_ want to take a test. “You won’t believe what’s in that wardrobe.”

Remus sighed. “I probably won’t. Go on then?”

“So rumor has it… Are you okay, Potter?” Lily cut herself off before she could explode. She narrowed her eyes at him, and James stopped his gawking at her.

James turned a beet red. “Fine. Thanks.”

“Anyway, so earlier this month, our DADA teacher discovered something in the wardrobe. But nobody could really identify what it was because everyone said something different. I _personally_ think, since they’re having us go up against it, there can only be one thing in that wardrobe.” Lily drummed her fingers on the table lightly to build the dramatic effect.

Remus gasped, eyes wide. “Oh no, you don’t think-”

“A boggart?” James blurted. The group stared at him, surprised. “I occasionally have moments of lucidity, yes.”

“Um… Yeah. I think it’s a boggart.” Lily gave him a small smile.

Sirius resisted the urge to groan. He hated this little… War going on between his best friends right now. If Peter got in on it… Well, that would be the form his boggart will take.

Remus grinned and slapped James on the back. “Good on you mate! But why would the Professor bring it here?”

“It’s the perfect chance to make us think on our feet! A lot of us can follow what the books and guidelines say, but it’s hard for some people to improv,” Lily gushed.

Sirius smirked. “I’m pretty sure you and Remus are gonna fit in the _‘follow the rules no matter what’_ category here.”

Remus pouted at him then, mock offended. “I can improvise!”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” He winked at his friend before looking over at James and rolling his eyes. This kind of thing was up their alley. They could be spontaneous and fun, and Remus just… Liked plans too much.

James grinned wide, and looked like he was trying to mentally communicate something to Sirius. Something along the lines of… _How can we steal it and put it in Snivellus’s dorm?_

It hit him in that moment, and Sirius leaned across the desk to whisper to James. He knew Remus and Lily wouldn’t approve of this particular plan. “This is gonna tell us everyone’s worst fears. If it’s something stupid like spiders, we can prank Snivellus _so hard!”_

James snickered quietly. “I bet it’s like, a dark room. Or a bird! What if he’s scared of birds!!”

“I can’t _wait._ We’re going to get some great material on everyone in this room.” And Sirius’s boggart probably won’t even come out of the closet because Sirius had never been afraid of anything in his _life._

Eventually the Professor started explaining a spell that had to do with something ridiculous? Sirius and James weren’t really listening, too busy plotting what they could do with a boggart. They only came to attention when the students began filing into a line. In the end, their little group claimed the very end of the line while the Death-Eater Wannabes seemed to huddle towards the front.

“Gross,” Remus mumbled to him, breath tickling his ear. “Look, there’s a Hufflepuff up there. How does that even happen?”

“They combined all Houses for this _very special event,_ and anyone can be a Death-Eater. They’ll probably get eaten alive though. Most of them train since birth to join-” Sirius’s voice trickled off as he realized Remus was staring at him. “I mean, I have no clue. What a loser.”

Remus smiled sort of softly. “Yeah. What do you think your boggart will be?”

“Nothing. The boggart will just up and die, or something.” Sirius had a sneaking suspicion his boggart might be something related to his family, but that news would get out too fast for him to handle. He couldn’t control it from reaching anyone who would rat him out in a heartbeat. And if word got back to his parents that he was making a disgrace of the family name, _again,_ he wasn’t sure if he’d be back again the following year. So, he was going to remain optimistic nothing would happen.

Remus laughed at that. “Oh right, because the great Sirius Black fears nothing. I forgot, my mistake. I think mine will be a big bear.”

“Why?” Sirius felt a smile tugging at his face before he tried to swallow it down. “A _bear?”_

“I dunno, I’ve seen pictures before and they look huge.” Remus gave a dramatic shudder. “Like, ten metres tall!”

“You have magic. You can take a _bear,”_ Sirius insisted. “Just imagine the bear on fire. That’s how I solve all of my problems, and on an unrelated note, I’m pretty badass at making fire with magic.”

Remus blinked. “I hope the day never comes when you have to show me.”

“It will. I promise.” Sirius had many skills, but destructive magic seemed to be his strong suit… And now, turning into a giant dog.

The nasty kids finally got done with, and it was Severus’s turn. He stepped up, and the previous fire-like shape turned into what looked to be… An Englishman. A muggle police? Sirius wasn’t sure. He leaned into Remus, quietly asking for confirmation.

Remus nodded tapping Sirius’s cheek. “Correct. A muggle police. But why…”

“I… Don’t know. Isn’t he Lily’s friend?” Sirius muttered. Everyone certainly knew Lily was a muggleborn.

“He is. I mean, they’re friends with each other. Maybe he got caught doing magic and it shook him up a bit?”

“I guess.” Sirius chewed on his bottom lip, casting a glance over where the Slytherins stood. They all whispered suggestions to Snivellus on how to change it into something humorous. None of them would be positive.

The man shifted into a clown, with something around his neck. A big necklace? Strange.

James was up next, and the clown shifted for a bit, edges pulling and warping. And then it was just… gone. The space turned darker, but not incredibly so. James for some reason sat blinking at the emptiness, face twisted and sad.

“I can’t change nothing,” James finally said.

Sirius stared at his friend. “Holy _shit,_ James’ fear is really nothing?”

Remus’s eyes widened. “Damn. I mean, I knew he had balls but…”

James smirked at the professor and went to sit in his desk, not a word spoken to any of his friends.

Peter shuffled to the front of the line, already antsy before the boggart even resurfaced. It took a few seconds for it appear, but it finally came back full-force as a man Sirius didn’t recognize, and a mark on his arm Sirius _certainly_ recognized. The boggart turning into You-Know-Who’s servants were actually more frequent than they ought to be.

He cleared his throat. “Rid-Rid-”

“Loser,” jeered one of the Slytherins.

Peter tried a few times before finally giving up and going to James, slamming his head against the desk. “Why can’t I be as cool as you?”

James patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, mate. No one can. Not even Sirius.”

Remus shook his head sadly. “Have you noticed how many Death-Eaters are what people fear? It’s… unfortunate..”

“‘Unfortunate’?” Lily muttered. “It’s unfair. You don’t choose who your parents are, and you definitely don’t choose to be _hunted down_ like some animal. The amount of purebloods in this room who are so elitist is _baffling.”_

Remus smiled at her. “At least we’ve still go two purebloods who aren’t shitty people. For the most part, anyways.”

“Yeah,” Lily said after a beat, making eye contact with Sirius. He stared back at her, and both attempted _not_ to say what was on their minds. After all, they were arguably the closest with Remus… And he _really_ hated her, and the feeling was definitely mutual.

You know what? He’d rather face a boggart than this conversation.

The second he stepped up, though, he was ready to go back to Lily. On the floor laid Regulus, face so marred and bloodied it was impossible to make out any features. But he knew his brother. He knew the scar on his knee came from falling down the stairs when he was three, and he knew his hands were always awkwardly hunched up. Sirius breathed out and finally took a peek at his brother’s bloodied forearm.

He knew the tattoo would be there. He knew his brother would join up, and he’d die for it.

Shit, how do you make a dead body funny?

Sirius felt a hand on his back. Remus stood next to him, wand outstretched. _“Disperio.”_ Sirius didn’t recognize the spell, but the effects were immediate. The gruesome scene before them drifted off into tiny bits of dust, reconverging in the center to take its next form.

Remus looked at Lily. “Your turn.”

“Yeah, okay.” Lily gave him an odd look before gently nudging him towards James. She took a deep breath, preparing herself. Then, the shape shifted to a girl who shared many of Lily’s features but lacked the flaming red hair. Her face was covered in soot, the ash dripping away as tears streamed downwards. Her clothing was ripped and shredded, revealing burnt skin underneath.

Lily smiled sadly before casting the spell. For the first time, it _almost_ appeared to work. In the girl’s hands, she held a version of Muggle fireworks, something Sirius tried to convince Remus to sneak into school. Lily didn’t laugh, though, so the boggart remained. After a few more attempts, she shrugged and walked away, her eyes shining.

Remus stepped up then, eyes narrowed. The soot-covered girl changed into something that couldn’t be seen, exactly. It looked as if it hadn’t fully formed. It was a hulking beast, black edges of the shape rippling subtly. Long limbs ended in claws stained red, and the only distinguishable feature on what should be the face were yellow tinted eyes and sharp teeth. It looked like the nightmare of a child.

Remus was frozen for only a moment, before whipping out his wand. He didn’t cast anything, just stood there. Then he ran out of the room faster than Sirius had ever seen him run.

Sirius was on his feet instantly, pulling James up too. “Go deal with your nothing. I’m going to go get him.”

James nodded fervently. “Yeah, yeah, go catch up with him. Peter and I’ll find you in a bit.”

He knew Remus well enough to find him. That’s what comforted Sirius as he began checking the usual hiding spots before finally stumbling across Remus. “See, I always told you class sucked ass, but you said it didn’t.”

Remus was tucked between his bed and the wall, a place he usually went to read when the other boys were being too loud. “I said it would be useful later. Not that it didn’t suck. No you’re right, I did say it didn’t suck.”

“And now you’re wrong. What a momentous day.” Sirius slid down in front of him, careful not to touch him yet.

Remus sighed. “Yay…” He smiled weakly. “That’s a weird lesson to do, I think. Like really, people’s worst fears?”

“James pulled it off. Who would have thought?” he muttered. “If we’re being honest, isn’t it better we have a worst fear than nothing, like James?”

“Maybe he’s just scared of dimly lit rooms,” Remus offered up sarcastically.

Sirius shrugged. “Yeah. I… If you don’t mind me asking, what was yours? I didn’t really _get_ it.”

Remus looked at him warily. “If I tell you, you gotta tell me too.”

“Sure. Um, I don’t want Regulus to be our parents because… He’s too soft to be a Death-Eater, but he’s too much like them to be anything else. If he becomes one, he’ll die. I just _know it.”_

“He seems like a good kid,” Remus said. “You’re a good brother.”

“I’m a shitty brother. I just… _Left_ him. He’ll be the heir someday.” And there was only one to achieve that… By Sirius dying.

“You wanted a better life. That’s not shitty, that’s surviving. And if he’s happy where he is, you can’t change that.”

“That’s enough from me,” Sirius finally said. “What was yours?”

Remus took a deep breath, folding further in on himself. “When I was eight or so, Dad was in a really bad court case. He’s a lawyer, the wizard in the family too. My mom’s a muggle. Anyways, There was this werewolf- Fenrir Greyback- that had killed this muggle woman. Dad sentenced him, and Greyback was sentenced to prison. But… he escaped on the way. He came to our house in the dead of night, looking for my dad. He just found me. I… that boggart turned into-him, when he attacked me. I could hardly see anything, I just woke up and his teeth were in me and claws in my sides and there was blood and-” Remus stopped talking then, tears dripping down his cheeks.

“Dad and mom woke up. Blasted spells at him ‘til he ran away. Damage was done though.”

Sirius hesitated. “Do you… I think it’ll get better. Being a werewolf.”

Remus laughed hoarsely. “There’s no cure. I just have to deal with it. Every month, hide and pray no one finds me. For their sake.”

Sirius froze. He made a pact with Peter and James. None of them would reveal until the next full moon, which happened to be tomorrow. It gave them time to perfect the transformation, and it gave Remus _no time_ to refuse. And he would. Because Remus was selfless to his core, and Sirius couldn’t comprehend how one person could have so much _goodness_ in them.

Remus could change the world. But right now, with Remus staring at him with teary eyes and a bitter laugh on his lips, it was obvious he didn’t even think the world _wanted_ him. But Sirius wanted Remus by his side always because he just _infected_ everything with his energy, with his joy. When Remus was right, all was right in the world.

Instead, Sirius smiled bleakly. “Just wait. Just because there’s no cure doesn’t mean there isn’t a way to help the symptoms.”

Remus nodded. “Yeah. Maybe. Sorry about. This. Not how you wanted to spend your time, I’m sure.”

“There’s no better way to spend my time,” he confessed honestly.

Remus wedged himself out of his hiding space. Without a word, he sort of just fell into Sirius’s space, lanky arms wrapped tight around him. Sirius stiffened a little before completely relaxing, hugging him back. “Trust me, Rem, I’ll help you. Things will look up.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in hindsight the boggart chapter was really problematic in the hp books


	3. Remus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> y'all,,, just brace yuse asses

There were whispers, always whispers. For the past five years of his life, whispers had surrounded him. Sometimes they could barely be heard. Other times they were less like whispers, more like quiet conversation. Less quiet at times, more loud. Less loud, more like screaming and running. That had only happened twice though.

It worried him though, the boggart incident. His family had been very hush-hush about the whole attack, but word got around. It always did. Remus realistically knew he probably had another year at best before he’d have to leave Hogwarts. Everyone would know. The school wasn’t terribly large anyways, and with any sort of digging after the boggart, people would know. Everyone would know.

Which is why Remus was determined to do as well as he could in the time he had left. He’d made it this far. He’d surrounded himself with good friends and had worked so hard at school. 

That day was a full moon, he knew. Lily already said she’d take his notes, but she was starting to get suspicious about him visiting his parents once a month. Remus just prayed that his dorm-mates could keep her at bay so she wouldn’t get hurt.

He still felt terrible about hurting Sirius, despite the scratch having long-since healed. It was just gone to show that he needed to be as far away from everyone else on those nights.

“Oi, Remus, what do you want from the Great Hall for tomorrow morning?” James asked, shaking him from his thoughts.

“Oh, I dunno. Maybe some chocolate pudding?”

“You and chocolate,” Sirius mumbled with a fond smile. “Aren’t you ever going to get sick of it?”

Remus flushed, a grin pulling at his face. “It makes me happy.” 

“What if we just  _ didn’t leave  _ the dorm tomorrow?” Peter suggested. “I don’t want to do the stupid potions test anyway.”

James’ face lit up. “And Remus can’t stop us!”

“This is  _ actual  _ genius. Guess we  _ all  _ aren’t going to class tomorrow!” Sirius grinned at Remus, daring him to stop them.

Remus rolled his eyes. “If I can get out of bed tomorrow, you’re all dead meat.”

“What if  _ I’m  _ tired tomorrow? And  _ I  _ want to sleep?” he countered.

“Well, you don’t have your body literally break itself and reform the night before,” Remus grunted at Sirius, tugging his sleep shirt over his head. 

Sirius’s argument died away, and he stammered a little before finding what he wanted to say. “I don’t know, you haven’t seen my girlfriend in bed.” 

Remus’s stomach turned strangely at that. He chalked it up to feeling uncomfortable about talking about Marlene in… bed. “Gross.” He chucked his shirt at Sirius.

“Just saying. That’s what I usually do when you go the Shrieking Shack. That way, I get some shrieking of my own done.” He winked before reaching for his clothing scattered on the ground. 

James groaned. “We ought to gag you.”

The boys finished getting ready and headed down to breakfast. Remus was determined to make today as good as possible before having a terrible night.

Before they could even make it to the table, Marlene cut them off. “There’s shit going down. Lily is investigating it right now and attempting damage control,  _ but... _ ”

Remus furrowed his brow. “James, Sirius. What did you do?”

“Well, actually, it’s, uh, more about you.” Marlene avoided his gaze. “But Sirius is definitely part of it?”

Remus chewed his lip, an unfortunate nervous habit he had picked up. “Marlene, what’s going on?”

“So, everyone is speculating what the, uh,  _ boggart  _ meant yesterday. And some people are doing fine, like James is the biggest badass in the grade. And some people are  _ not.”  _ She gave him a pointed look.

“I-I told you guys, I’m scared of bears! They probably… look like that.” Remus was panicking now. The whispers were here too soon, he hadn’t even finished half of his third year! Maybe he was overreacting, Marlene didn’t know.

Sirius gave his girlfriend a look Remus didn’t understand, and she instantly threw her hands up. “I didn’t do  _ anything.  _ It’s not my fault Mary pointed out that the shadow looked vaguely man-shaped.”

Remus coughed, feeling the blood drain out of his face. “I-isn’t that what bears look like? Nasty buggers, for sure.”

“The general idea is, uh… Complicated?” Marlene offered a sympathetic smile. “But I wouldn’t walk in there if I was you. I can, like, grab you four breakfast with Lily.”

Remus made eye contact with Sirius, trying to silently ask if he should walk in anyways.

“It’d look suspicious, Marls. You just gotta own up to the rumors, y’know?” Sirius sauntered forward and threw his arm around her. She nodded and whispered something in his ear.

Remus swallowed thickly. That was his answer then. He walked through the Great Hall with his chin held high, feeling the voices swarm around him like he was used to by now. They were only rumors, after all. No one had any proof. He sat down in his normal spot.

Lily looked at him, startled. “I thought you’d stay in your dorm room today.” 

Remus smiled. “Why? I leave tonight to go see my parents.”

“Well, just-”

“My favorite rumor,” interjected Dorcas Meadowes, “is that you’re gay. Because the next rumor is that you’re afraid of gay people. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t think that was a man in your boggart.”

Remus wanted to laugh. He knew he was bisexual, was this really what the rumors were? “No, Dorcas, just bears. I saw a documen-tary when I was little. They terrify me.”

“A bear? Well, it doesn’t matter. You’re not the only one who has rumors about being gay flying around. Apparently, it’s the ‘worst insult’.” Dorcas used air quotes, and Lily chuckled next to her.

Remus sighed. “Such is the bigotry of the 1970s. I’d say the worst insult is something like  _ Test Cheater  _ or  _ Puppy Kicker.”  _

“A lot of Death Eaters now, apparently,” Lily added. 

Remus nodded. “That too. What’s for breakfast today?”

“Nothing interesting. But we’re definitely getting a show.” Dorcas nodded over to where James was surrounded by a crowd of younger kids.

Remus laughed as James looked very uncomfortable. “Why, he’s adored now! How come he’s all weird?”

“Maybe he’s not used to  _ other  _ people stroking his ego,” Lily commented.

Remus nodded sagely. “Makes sense.”

“Well,  _ I  _ think I’m going to go save him.” Dorcas pushed to her feet and strode over to them. The first years stared at her in a mix of apprehension and uncertainty while James looked relieved.

James gave her a hug and walked with her back to the table. “I was… caught up.”

“The boy afraid of nothing is a pretty big deal,” Peter said instantly.

“I’m not- nothing is a misconception,” James defended. “I’m afraid of…  _ no _ thing.”

“I don’t think boggarts do metaphors,” Lily casually pointed out. “Everyone else’s was pretty straight forward. Peter and Mary are scared of Death-Eaters, I’m scared of hurting my sister, and Remus is either gay or homophobic.”

Remus groaned. “Lily, you know that’s not-”

James interrupted. “It’s not a metaphor! That is exactly what I’m scared of!”

“Nothing?” Lily raised an eyebrow.

James got uncomfortable again. “Sort of.”

Remus reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “Take your time, dude.”

“You know, I just want to have a pleasant breakfast. We should drop this,” Marlene loudly said.

Everyone agreed, and dug in. Remus found he could ignore the voices then, surrounded instead by happy laughter and whatnot.

\---

Right before Remus left for the Shrieking Shack, Sirius dove in front of the door and blocked his path. James and Peter disappeared earlier with their book bags, citing some study session the two weren’t invited to. Remus didn’t say anything when he saw James’ invisibility cloak peeking out of his bag. “So, this is bad timing, but I have to tell you something.”

Remus narrowed his eyes. “Suspicious. Continue.”

“So, you know how you’ve been having study sessions with Evans, possibly make out sessions but we don’t judge, and the three of us have been staying in the dorm room?” Sirius started.

Remus gawked. “I have  _ not  _ kissed Lily, I’ll have you know. But yes. We have studied.”

“Yeah, we don’t study when you’re gone. We kinda… Broke the law?” He offered his most charming smile.

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. “What- what did you do?”

“James and Peter are at the Shrieking Shack right now, and I need you  _ not  _ to freak out.”

Remus took a long, deep breath. “Deal.”

Sirius copied him before winking. Then, he transformed in front of Remus’ eyes and turned into a huge, black dog. 

Remus was absolutely speechless. His friends had become Animagi? “Why?” He finally asked.

In the next second, Sirius was back but crouching on the ground. He grinned. “Because animals aren’t affected by werewolf bites.”

Remus was crying then, hugging his friend on the ground. “You absolute, nitwits! You geniuses! This- oh, Sirius!”

“I made a promise to you, and I intend to keep it.” He hugged him back tightly.

Remus pushed his face into the fabric of Sirius’s shirt. He couldn’t believe what Sirius- what his  _ friends  _ had done for him. Despite it being illegal- literally illegal! They had done it, all for him. “You’re incredible,” he mumbled. Sirius Black, the pureblood elitist- turned bad-boy, loving friend he was today. Remus felt a warm surge spread through him. 

Affectionately, Sirius pushed Remus away. “Don’t say that yet. Wait until after you transform back. The three of us might be really messy tonight.”

“It’s something,” Remus assured. “And you did it all for me?”

“Who else would we have done it for?” Sirius grinned crookedly. “They’re going to get antsy if you don’t come.”

Remus sighed, trying to collect himself. “This is still a bad idea, but considerably less of one. I… You sorry blokes can stop me from trying to tear myself up!”

“James turns into a  _ massive  _ stag, and Peter becomes a rat. We have strategies to handle this.” He nodded sincerely.

Remus became worried. “I might eat Peter.”

“You won’t. We’d notice before you could.” Sirius grabbed his hand and started dragging him out the door. “Now, come  _ on.  _ We have to get there for anything to go wrong… And it  _ definitely  _ will not.”

-

The night, in and of itself, was so different from anything Remus had experienced before. When the werewolf tried to take a chunk out of Peter, the other two animals were guarding him before it could come close. When the werewolf tried to claw Remus out from inside, the dog nipped at his wrist and danced lazily out of reach. Throughout the whole ordeal, it wasn’t nearly as terrible as it normally was. The werewolf wasn’t nearly as  _ hungry  _ as it normally was.

But the feeling that meant the most to Remus was that of the morning after. He was the first one awake, noting a considerable decrease in injuries from his average. And he was so  _ warm.  _ He sat up slowly, realizing his head had been laying on the stag’s stomach. The rat was by his feet. And the dog was laying across his chest. 

Remus could hardly contain the sheer amount of love inside him. He made a physical effort not to make the happy noises he was prone to when it just became too much. These friends of his were irreplaceable, and more than he ever thought he’d be lucky enough to get. 

-

Remus desperately wished the following events weren’t how his week ended. The feeling of waking up and knowing how much he was loved, he wanted to live in that forever. But such things cannot last.

The rest of his friends were at breakfast, taking a well deserved break. He was in the hospital wing, as per usual, feeling proud when Pomfrey remarked on how few injuries he had. The nurse left the room, and Remus was preparing to nod off when a voice shook him awake.

It sounded oddly like Sirius’s, but the way it wielded words, it obviously couldn’t be his friend. “I thought I’d find you here. The moon certainly dictated it.”

Remus felt cold wash over him. He opened his eyes, seeing a well-kempt boy who was obviously a Black. “Sorry, have we met?”

“Of course we haven’t. Unlike my brother, I don’t associating with…” He waved his hand vaguely over Remus’s form in the bed. “Mutts.”

Remus’s throat clogged up, even though that certainly wasn’t the worst he’d been called. “You-you have no proof.”

“See, what I’ve learned is that you don’t need concrete proof. You just need some rumors, here and there. ‘Have you ever noticed Remus Lupin visits his  _ sickly parents  _ on the full moon every month? Did you notice how his  _ boggart  _ had fangs where its teeth should be? Do you think that  _ maybe  _ Remus Lupin is a werewolf?’” The boy’s smile grew darker. “They’ll tear you apart within a month.”

He was hyperventilating then. This was too soon, all too soon. “Why are you telling me this?”

“My family has something on the line, just as yours does. See, the only way to get rid of your heir is to either disown him or kill him. And disowning is a little too messy, and killing is a little too public. So I figured, we could both do some public relations.”

Remus tried to disguise the falling feeling he felt. “What- sorry, what are you asking me to do?”

“Sirius won’t come back to us when he has ‘friends’ in Gryffindor. But I know you’re the one he cares the most about. If you stop being friends, he’ll be one of the family again in no time. And I won’t tell anyone about your ‘condition’.” He shrugged, obviously proud of the deal he drew up.

The thought of that broke Remus’s heart. He could either pull away from Sirius and save himself from being publicly harassed, or he could do nothing and not only hurt himself, but likely damage Sirius’s reputation for being friends with a werewolf.

When put like that, the choice seemed obvious. “... Deal.”

There were whispers, always whispers.


	4. Lily

She would never admit this out loud, but the Gryffindor uniforms really did flatter everyone on the team. The team all huddled in the center of the pitch, the gold and red a stark contrast to the dying yellow grass underfoot. Whatever strategy they were planning obviously pleased James, who pumped his fist in the air. 

Lily never would have thought she’d be excited for quidditch, but she  _ definitely  _ was today. The match against Ravenclaw shouldn’t have been as big of a deal. It was Ravenclaw after all. This time, though, they’d go up against Slytherin for finals so… The energy in the air consumed everyone. 

Their little group all huddled in the front of the bleachers, covered with their winter gear as the wind harshly slapped across their faces. Lily pulled her scarf closer and tried to figure out which blob was Remus and which one was Marlene. Since one of the Prewett twins got suspended for one reason or the other, she took their place for today. 

“Do you think we’ll win?” she asked after a second.

The twin, she can’t tell which one, huffed dramatically. “No, obviously. If I were out, there, maybe. But the Ravenclaws just switched around their positions, and I’m not on the field.”

“I have faith in Marlene,” commented Dorcas, not bothering to look up from her book. “She didn’t get in trouble after all.”

The twin practically snarled. “Yeah, fine. Whatever. She made the team anyways.”

“So did Potter, so maybe you don’t have standards.” Lily smiled to herself.

“Potter’s actually been doing pretty well for a third-year. If he drills this summer, he might be the best we’ve had for a stretch.” He leaned back, long bangs flopping over.

“Don’t let him hear. He won’t shut up for weeks,” Sirius laughed, but it was quieter than it used to be. Whatever happened between him and Remus was obvious to  _ everyone,  _ but neither confessed to having a fight. Instead, Sirius started spending most of his time with Marlene, and Remus spent most of his time with her. 

The teams were up in the air then, and neither team waited a  _ second  _ to start making power plays. James shot off like a bullet, but didn’t determine any particular direction. So it would be at least five minutes before the game was over. Why they put someone in  _ glasses  _ for the one position which revolved around being able to see… Well, Lily didn’t play sports for a reason.

“You don’t even know what’s going on,” Sirius murmured to her, a quiet laugh in his words.

She sent him a defiant look. “I know enough.”

Relatively soon into the game, the Gryffindor team was pushed relatively close to the stands. It got to the point where Remus was near eye-level with them, but only looked at Lily for a moment. It became apparent as to why, as he brought his bat fast and hard across the air, sending a Bludger sailing towards a Ravenclaw.

She looked over to make a comment when she noticed Sirius watching his friend intently. She went to say something, probably along the lines of ‘just kiss and make up already’ before realizing that… Was not how you stared at a friend. Oh. So… Kissing and making up was obviously a problem they  _ already  _ encountered.

Which wasn’t fair. Sirius was with Marlene, and Remus was… Not with anyone. Which didn’t mean he could off the market, he totally could. Remus would make an amazing boyfriend considering he was a better gentleman than anyone else in their group.  _ Especially  _ in comparison with Potter and Sirius Black but…

It wasn’t fair. “Are you and Remus a thing?”

Sirius shot her a wide-eyed look, tinging on  _ obvious  _ panic. “What? No. I’m with Marlene, remember.”

“That’s not…  _ Oh.  _ Does he know…?” She floundered for words, and Sirius quickly shook his head and focused  _ all  _ of his attention on Marlene. She had a feeling he wouldn’t be talking about this for a  _ long  _ time. 

Remus began to fly off, but not before turning around and shooting Lily a soft smile. Lily felt a slight blush rushing to her cheeks before she ducked her head and looked over to the Prewett twin. “Your brother and Remus are doing well.”

She had determined it was Gideon then, who smiled at her. “Yeah. My brother’s a little shit, but you’re right about that Lupin kid. He just- he gets all calm and stuff and then he just clocks the Bludger- it’s actually really funny.”

“It looks like he’s about to fall off the broom with that amount of effort,” Peter said.

Gideon laughed at that. “We were worried he would! He hasn’t yet though.”

“Your team is really good,” Dorcas commented. “I’m surprised you didn’t win last year.”

Gideon sighed. “Yeah, we had a good team. Still do.” He scratched his head. “It’s kinda weird, by the time they’re seventh years, Potter and Lupin will have played most of their time. I think the team will for sure win then.”

“They better win then. We’ll be seventh years too, and I want to end on a high note.” Sirius nudged Lily slightly. “Evans over here is just excited to make Head Girl.”

“Shut up. I’m excited for whoever becomes Quidditch Captain too.” She made a face at him. 

Suddenly, a cheer erupted from around the stadium. James was standing-  _ standing  _ on his broom in midair, holding up the snitch for all to see. He was practically bathing in their praise. Lord knew he loved the sound of his own name.

“That’s  _ not  _ possible. How is he keeping his balance? He can’t even  _ walk  _ without tripping,” marvelled Sirius.

Gideon shook his head in wonder. “He’s gonna have to pry the second-year girls off him for a week.”

“He’s gonna have to pry the  _ third-year  _ girls off him for a week,” confessed Mary, a quiet giggle hinting at her voice. “Besides, everyone knows the boys have been itching to ask someone out for  _ weeks.  _ Sirius and Marlene keep rubbing their happy relationship in everyone’s face.”

Dorcas sighed, watching the Quidditch team set down. “Do you think that generalization includes Lupin?” 

“I thought you thought he was gay,” teased Mary. 

“I do,” Dorcas sniffed. “He’s also got cute hair and a jawline that could cut. So…”

“This is gross. Who could like Remus?” commented Sirius.

Peter nodded in agreement. “I would have thought James was the best looking out of all of us.” Upon seeing everyone give him a slightly incredulous look, he shrugged.

Dorcas shook her head. “No, he’s got these sorta gold-shiny eyes? He’s not obviously pretty, but mm, once you notice.” 

“Stop pouting, Sirius. You’re taken, so we don’t even think about dating you,” Mary added as she noticed the way Sirius kept his eyes downcast.

Sirius laughed. “Glad you’re ranking my friends then. Pretty sure James would ask someone out before Remus, though, so don’t get your hopes up.”

The team broke away then, and the three third years headed towards the rest of their friends. Lily noticed the concentration Remus had in  _ not  _ looking at Sirius at all.

“Who’s the man?” James whooped, performing a poorly executed cartwheel towards them.

Sirius gave Remus a long, hurt look before rushing over to Marlene. He practically picked her up and spun her. “That was  _ wicked,  _ Marls.” 

Remus evidently felt he could look then. “Gross, PDA. Oh, er, Lily?” Remus’s eyes found hers. “Could I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”

Mary gasped dramatically while Dorcas quietly wolf-whistled under her breath. When Lily shot both of them a dirty look, Mary shrugged. “I think we  _ all  _ know what that means, Lily. Go have fun, kiddo.” 

“I’m  _ older  _ than you,” Lily protested instantly.

Remus looked around nervously, trying not to look at James, who was staring at him somewhat betrayed. James never was the best at masking his emotions. Remus waited for her by a darker corner of the stands, seeing as people had mostly left by then.

Lily gave each of the boys a quick glance, trying to sort out her  _ own  _ emotions by judging them against theirs. But Sirius was too busy snogging his girlfriend, something that felt a  _ little  _ like he was trying too hard, James started talking with Gideon, and Peter just offered a fumbling thumbs up.

Remus offered her a weak smile. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you for a bit now, wasn’t sure when to do it.”

“Sure you want to do it with your friends around?” Lily bit down her smile. She had a feeling she knew what was coming, and if it came, she  _ definitely  _ wasn’t saying no.

Remus scratched at the back of his neck. “Er, well, it doesn’t  _ have  _ to be here, I just thought-”

“No, I don’t mind!” she blurted. “I just… Continue. I’m ready.”

Remus smiled at her in earnest then. “You already know what I’m gonna say.” He took a deep breath. “Lily, would you like to go out with me some time?”

She offered a sly look. “Screw sometime. There’s a Hogsmeade visit coming up this weekend, and I think that sounds like a  _ perfect  _ first date.”

Remus’s face broke out into a large grin. “I- yeah! I mean, that’s a great plan! A- an awesome idea.” He looked at her then, quieting his nervous fidgeting down. “You-you’re sure?”

“I have never been surer in my life.” Lily grinned and grabbed his hands. “And I think you knew I was going to say yes.”

Remus looked like he was floating then, a pink tint dusting his cheeks and ears. “A little. It’s settled then, Hogsmeade this weekend.” He let go of her hands and held his arms open for a hug. She didn’t hesitate before launching into his arms.

-

Later that night, Lily found herself staring up at the ceiling on the middle of the floor, trying to contain her anxiety. “I don’t have  _ any  _ good clothing. I screwed up. I’m not even going to impress him.” 

Marlene chucked a pillow at her from off her bed. “One, that’s not true. Two, if that is true, you can borrow some of mine. I’ve got a green sweater that I think would make those eyes of yours just  _ glow.” _

“Really? You’re not wearing it out to impress  _ Sirius?”  _ Lily flipped over, propping herself on her elbows.

Marlene smirked. “No, he likes my red dress better. He told me so.”

“I’m just glad that you didn’t say anything about him liking you outside of clothing,” Dorcas muttered from her bed. She gave them all a pointed look. “Can we complain about boys  _ another  _ night?”

Marlene groaned. “Oh, hush you. One of you, Mary or Dorcas, can take James. The other can take Peter- oh that leaves no one for Severus. Oops.” 

“Don’t be mean about Severus. He’s a really nice guy,” Lily protested.

Mary gave her a long look before shaking her head. “Okay, but Severus isn’t hot. At all. I wouldn’t ask him out in a hundred million years. But maybe I’d take Peter. James’ ego isn’t that hot, like, I want room for me in that relationship.” 

Dorcas snorted. “Straight facts. I don’t mind. If we’re just doing a group date, I’d rather have a self-inflated piece of arm candy than nothing at all.”

“There! It’s sorted. And if things start getting  _ saucy,  _ we can split up.” Mary wiggled her shoulders and tried her best to make a sexy expression. Lily struggled not to break out laughing. She couldn’t imagine Peter doing  _ anything  _ more than holding a hand.

Marlene rolled onto her stomach. “Alright, list of the boys’ sauciness, top to bottom. I’m saying Sirius, then Remus, then James, then Peter, obviously.”

“I’m not going to  _ rank  _ them-” Lily started to protest.

Mary interrupted instantly. “James, Sirius, Peter, Remus. Schoolboy chic isn’t cutting it for me.”

Dorcas huffed. “Isn’t that kind of hot though? The whole ‘I’m such a good schoolboy but you make me  _ bad’  _ thing!”

“How about we  _ don’t  _ rank boys? I want to pass the Bechdel Test,” Lily pointedly interjected.

Mary narrowed her eyes. “We pass the Bechdel Test when we talk about school. You just got a boyfriend! We gotta have a little fun?”

“We can pass the Bechdel Test tomorrow,” Marlene added. “How often do we get to make fun of  _ you  _ for a boy? Even though Severus has been hanging onto you for  _ years,  _ and I’d say Jam- Remus has been doing the same.”

Lily was ignoring that slip-up. Yep, she wouldn’t acknowledge that until she was absolutely  _ forced  _ to. 

“I was sure that he was gay,” Dorcas said again.

Marlene laughed. “Nobody in our grade is gay.” 

“Well, I’m like 100% sure he wouldn’t be the one who’s gay in their friend group. I think Sirius,  _ no offense,  _ puts that off a lot more than Remus,” Mary said.

Marlene stared at her. “He literally was the first one who got the balls to ask a girl out.”

Dorcas’s eyes lit up. “I think that’s the point- no offense.”

“I can  _ totally  _ see that!” Mary gushed. “Think about it. Dramatic lovers… Sirius can’t ask out the man of his dreams, so he deflects and runs off with his best friend, the one person he knows he can confess his secret too! The whole time, though, he’s  _ languishing  _ because he just wants to be with… James?”

Dorcas narrowed her eyes. “No… I think I lost the thread of it. Sirius and James are about as dudebro as you can get.”

“It’s a  _ cover!  _ That’s why James hasn’t asked anyone out!” Mary protested.

The whole time, Lily struggled to decide what to say. She couldn’t out Sirius after discovering his…  _ Staring  _ at her new boyfriend. And she definitely wouldn’t embarrass Marlene without knowing the full story. It was possible Sirius liked both of them at the same time. Besides, she trusted Remus  _ not  _ to be in a secret relationship with Sirius. 

Marlene huffed and dramatically got to her feet. “If you’re going to insult the  _ basis  _ of my first love, then I will jump out that window.”

Dorcas held out her hand. “No, don’t be so dramatic, we were only kidding around. You and Sirius kiss enough to make sure that isn’t a real concern.” 

Marlene nodded, satisfied. “Besides, Peter is totally the gay one.”

“No, he isn’t!” Mary shouted. 

Lily snickered. “I thought you were just dating him out of necessity?”

Dorcas grinned. “Regardless, a straight man makes a better boyfriend for a girl than a gay man. Right Marlene?” 

“I don’t like the implications here.” Marlene sniffed.

“So yes. Hey you guys! Wanna see the new shirt I bought?” Mary exclaimed.

Lily desperately clung to the escape from the debate. “Sure. Are you going to wear to Hogsmeade?”

“Yep!” Mary dug through her cabinet. She pulled out a deep purple collared shirt. “Isn’t it fantastic? All silky. And it’ll go just great with my flare pants!” 

Marlene wrinkled her nose. “That’s… Definitely a look.”

Mary pouted. “I guess purple doesn’t go with red very well. Maybe I can find a skirt to use with it.”

“The skirt would go,” Lily agreed. She smiled. “Merlin, this weekend is going to be fun.”

Dorcas sighed. “Marlene, I might have to borrow something of yours then, too. I don’t have  _ anything.” _

“I have something that’ll look  _ wicked  _ on you. James won’t be able to keep his hands off you,” she promised.

Dorcas shared a look with Lily. “Maybe I’d prefer he did,” she murmured.

“Well, okay, just kill the fun. Me and Sirius already made plans to run off, if you know what I mean.” Marlene winked. 

Dorcas pouted. “Gross. Well, to the rest of us girls who don’t actually like boys that much, you want to come back here and play some music? Lily, you brought your record player right?”

“I did, but I think you’d have fun with Peter and James if you gave them a chance,” Lily quickly said. She could see Dorcas helping James calm his ego, and she could see Mary making Peter bold. They’d work well together.

Dorcas gave a long sigh. “Alright. I’ll try. No promises though.”

Mary stood up. “Hey, if things go well, we can all go get butterbeer! This’ll be fun!”

“I can’t wait,” Lily said truthfully before grinning. “But we have class tomorrow, so I’m going to bed.” 

Dorcas raced to the bathroom first. “I’ll be quick!”

Lily didn’t mind. She got to her feet and collapsed down on her bed. “This isn’t how I expected today to go… But it was perfect."


	5. James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we started cute and ended with the war

The boys group was just buzzing with anticipation. They had already sorted out the details, and despite being bummed about Lily and Remus, James was happy to get to know Dorcas. She was pretty and had a smart tongue. 

James stood in front of Sirius. “How does my hair look?”

“Like you’re trying too hard.” Sirius reached over, forcing the locks wayward.

James furrowed his brow. “Do girls really like that?”

“With your hair all combed down, you look like a nerd,” Sirius said. He grinned crookedly. “Marlene definitely figured out which hairstyle she likes best on all of you before.”

James laughed. “So mine is just all over the place?”

“Yep. Besides, is Dorcas even the one you’re trying to impress?” he asked after a few seconds.

James risked a glance over at Remus, who wasn’t paying attention. “No. Not really. But… that doesn’t matter. I’m happy for Remy- no that doesn’t work. We’ll find a different nickname. I am happy for him though.”

“I don’t get why you agreed to this group date. You’re going to be miserable the entire time, which sucks, because I need you to be the mediator today since Peter’s shit at it.” Sirius avoided Remus entirely in his line of sight, instead offering a mocking wave to Peter.

James cocked his head. “Mediator? What do you mean?”

“Remus is completely ignoring me, and I keep screwing up so…” Sirius shrugged helplessly.

James looked at Remus again. “But you didn’t do anything.”

“I’m almost certain I did something. I just didn’t think it was a big screw up, but evidently, he thinks so.” He forced a smile.

James rested his hand on his shoulder. “Maybe we can find a time to talk to him today. You’ll work through it, yeah?”

“Maybe. I don’t want to make things worse.” Sirius gently brushed off his hand. “Today’s about hanging out with the girls anyway. Whatever going on between me and Remus doesn’t really matter.”

James shook his head. “No, it does. But it can wait. We gotta get read, yeah?” He walked over to his set of clothes. “Not quite sure… Maybe just a collared shirt and pants? Or is that too uppity?”

Remus look offended. “That’s what I’m wearing, can’t be  _ all that  _ uppity.”

“You  _ always  _ look uppity,” Peter said quickly. “James usually looks cooler than that. You two wearing the same outfit is weird it-” He cut himself off before he finished that sentence, and Sirius offered an approving nod. 

Remus rolled his eyes. “We’re not twinning, regardless.”

James pulled out one of his white collared school shirts. “This will work. Just over my grey…” He searched around. “There we go.”

“Dorcas probably wants a bad boy,” argued Peter. 

Sirius nodded. “She doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who just, like, hangs out with nerds.”

James grinned. “Alright. Well, I do have this.” He pulled out a new denim jacket. “Pretty bad boy, right?”

“That’ll work,” Sirius said with a smirk. “Maybe you’ll walk away a taken man like some of us.”

“Yeah, maybe!” James laughed. “Sirius, what are you wearing?”

“Black shirt, black pants. Marlene’s wearing red, so probably a red tie too. I don’t want to show her up though.” Sirius dramatically sighed. “Domestic life is the worst.”

James caught Remus looking at Sirius’s choice, and saw his face change colors. A bit more pink around the ears. Weird, maybe he was jealous? 

Peter ignored the whole situation between Sirius and Remus, as per usual. Ever since their small fight started, Peter just acted like nothing went wrong. “Mary picked out my entire outfit. She wants it to match hers perfectly, and I don’t really mind.”

Remus paused. “Oh. Matching… I guess that makes sense. Maybe I should have asked Lily. Well, whatever.” He pulled out a black collared shirt with some nice jeans. “This’ll do.”

Sirius glanced at Remus out of the corner of his eye before resolutely training his eyes on the ground. He cleared his throat. “Well, Marlene said we should meet them around now. So, I’m leaving with or without you, mates.” 

The rest of the group hurried into their clothes and out the door.

-

He saw Lily first, of course. Had she never worn that outfit before? It seemed new. The redheaded girl stepped into his view, with a velvety skirt and an open collared shirt. He tried not to show how pretty he thought she was, instead looking at Dorcas, who smirked knowingly.

“Lily, you look so pretty!” Remus exclaimed.

Lily beamed. “Thank you! You look great yourself!”

Remus tugged at his collar. “Very kind of you.”

James shifted his focus to Dorcas. “Hey Dorcas. How are you?”

“Good.” She gave him an odd look. “Excited?”

“Yeah, I think this’ll be fun. Get to know you. For example- favorite muggle film?”

“I don’t watch movies often. I’m more of a book person,” Dorcas said dryly. Behind him, he heard Sirius snicker and Marlene frantically shush him. 

“Well, there’s something I didn’t know.” James smiled at her, charming the best he could.

She nodded, but when she turned away slightly, she rolled her eyes. Mary laughed and agreed quickly. “This is already going well.”

James shot Sirius a look. “Alright, off to the candy store!”

The group laughed and shuffled over, and James took the opportunity to observe the group. Peter and Mary seemed to be doing well, Remus and Lily were totally in their own world. As well as Sirius and Marlene, he would have to get his friends together alone to try and make better guesses. 

“So, I don’t really want to be on a date, and I don’t think you want to be with me,” Dorcas whispered in his ear.

James shrugged apologetically. “I don’t see you romantically, I don’t think you see me that way either.”

“You’re right. I’m just here to see whose relationship blows up first. No offense to  _ any  _ of our friends. And I think you’re just here to see whose relationship  _ lasts,”  _ Dorcas continued.

James chewed on his lip. “You’re not wrong. I honestly think Mary and Peter will do well.”

“I do too. He’ll be good for her. Remus and Lily, though, I can’t see.”

James sighed in relief. “Me neither. Not even just because- well, you know. But I think they’re much closer as friends!”

He looked over to see them together. No, they definitely seemed to be talking more as friends. Close friends, but not romantically.

“I think your chances with her, though, aren’t going to look up until you grow up some.” She smiled at him, trying to soften the blow of her words. “You’re definitely the most immature out of your little group.”

James sighed, running a hand through his hair. “For real?”

“Your pastimes include Quidditch and hexing people who tick you off.” Dorcas started listing them off. “Severus, any  _ other  _ Black except Regulus… Which, by the way, something is off with that little shit.”

James snapped his fingers. “I think so too! But also- you can’t tell me you like Severus. Literally everyone except Lily can tell he’s a total creep.”

“He’s a creep. But he hasn’t  _ done  _ anything yet. She won’t abandon him until he does something unforgivable, and if we’re being honest? I don’t think he will.” She sighed. “And we’ve waited.”

James nodded. “I mean, I guess. Regardless, I’ll wait to do anything for real until Remus and Lily split up. I bet it’ll be before the end of the year, which is soon.”

“I don’t think, at this rate, your friendships are going to last to the end of the year. Sirius and Remus spend almost  _ all  _ of their time with their significant others, and Peter and you never seemed the closest out of the four.” She shrugged slightly. “Whatever’s going on, you need to fix it.”

“Sirius was telling me about that, apparently he did something and Remus is playing silent-treatment. We don’t know what though! And he hasn’t said anything to me about it.”

“Look,  _ I’m  _ not the one telling you this, but I think there’s something brewing. Namely, by the Slytherins. I don’t know when they’re going to pull it off. This year, next year, who knows? But it’s not for muggleborns, and a lot of my friends are muggleborns,” Dorcas dropped her voice even lower.

James became worried. “I mean, same here. What do you think might be going on?”

“I think they’re going to stage an attack at Hogsmeade.”

“I- the kids?” James was incredulous. “I mean, it’s not like they know any attack spells, their parents aren’t- Oh. Their parents are Death Eaters.”

“Exactly. And apparently, the DADA teacher went over Unforgivable Curses with the older grades the same day we did boggarts. So they have all the ammo they need.” She glanced over at Remus and Lily. “And we don’t know enough defenses.”

“There are so many muggleborns and half-bloods, that’s really worrying,” he fretted. “Do you think Dumbledore knows?”

“I think Dumbledore has bigger fish to fry. But I know someone you might want to meet.” A wry smile crossed her face. “But we’ll have to get away from this little group date.”

James looked around. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

-

Dorcas dragged him into a dodgy inn they usually avoided in its entirety. On its sign, there was a boar with blood leaking out of it. When they entered, everyone’s head turned to him, and he was met with scars galore. They were the youngest people there by  _ multiple  _ years, possibly decades.

She got to the bar in the front and plopped down. “Aberforth, I brought someone for you to meet.”

The old man across from the two looked over. “Ah, Dorcas. Look at you, little squirt. How’ve you been?”

“Good. Been gathering intel like you told me too, and I have a  _ lot  _ of you this week. Which is why I’m introducing you to the most  _ popular  _ third year in Hogwarts.” Dorcas beamed.

Aberforth looked James over. “This runt?”

“Hey!” James exclaimed.

She shrugged. “He’s the Seeker, what did you expect? He’s also fairly showy about it. The other day, he stood on his  _ broom  _ to pull it off. He has the most influence of anyone in our grade, and he’s a pureblood. He’s in the  _ perfect  _ position.”

Aberforth nodded approvingly. “Well done, Dorcas. James, are you up for some standing up for your friends?”

James held the older man’s gaze. “If it means saving them from whatever the purebloods are planning? Count me in.”

“Here’s the gist of it. I got help from Hestia Jones from Slytherin to get all of this. On the very last Hogsmeade visit, or the very first Hogsmeade visit of next year, they want to attack. The location is unknown, and their goal is unknown. It sounds like they’re having trouble organizing who exactly to go after.”

James looked down at his hands. “I’ve got a pretty good guess if it’s kids they want to target.”

“So, there’s that. If they don’t get their plan together, they won’t attack on the last visit… But if they wait, they’ll end up recruiting people who  _ graduated  _ Hogwarts and therefore don’t have the same restrictions. So, and this is horrible to say, we’re hoping they get their shit together.” Dorcas winces at her own words.

“Is there a way to stop it entirely?” James asked Aberforth.

Aberforth shrugged. “If we could gather solid enough evidence as to who was behind it entirely, then maybe yes. But we don’t know who’s pulling the strings.”

“I think it’s Narcissa and Lucius. It’s their  _ seventh  _ year, might as well get the final hurrah.”

“If we could get Slughorn to start paying attention, we might be able to get him to neutralize them?” James suggested.

Dorcas lifted an eyebrow. “When has Slughorn  _ ever  _ paid attention to this? He’ll ignore the Death-Eaters in his house until one of them murders someone. I know Lucius Malfoy has a tattoo, and he still ignores it.”

“What about Dumbledore? Why can’t he help?”

Dorcas instantly bowed her head towards Aberforth, who instantly looked furious at the mention of the headmaster.

“Dumbledore, my dearest brother, can’t even get the stick out of his own ass.  _ Aberforth, I have to go to this fairy convention!!  _ What the f-heck! We’re on the verge of war here!” Aberforth seethed, angrily cleaning out a mug.

James swallowed thickly. “Sorry.”

The older man sighed. “No, don’t apologize. I think James, if you want to help, we need you. You’re popular, and in enough of a solid position to rally support away from Narcissa and Lucius.”

James smiled hopefully. “You think I can?”

“I think you can when you stop fighting with your friends,” added Dorcas.

“I will. I’ll get them sorted, and I’ll make everyone love me so they love the mini-Death Eaters less!”

Aberforth grinned. “Sort of. Dorcas can give you better instructions. Right now though, you two better scram. Happy hour starts in T-minus now.”

“And there goes our chance to get drunk.” Dorcas laughed before grabbing James’ arm and pulling him out of the inn. “I knew you’d be into it.”

“I have to be! I don’t want to watch Remus get blown up,” he grimaced.

She made a noise in the back of her throat. “I think Lily’s probably in the best danger. She’s the only Gryffindor muggle-born who’s so  _ connected  _ with Slytherin. Severus might not do anything to her because of it, but Severus has friends and Death-Eaters do these  _ things  _ to keep their friends and family from becoming ‘blood traitors’.” 

James felt something click with that, but he couldn’t say exactly what it was. Family, blood traitor… Something about that… Whatever.

“You’re a good guy, James. I’m surprised Lily doesn’t see it.” She gently nudged him.

James looked at her gratefully. “Thank you, Dorcas. Means a lot.”

“There’s a reason I came to you.” She smiled before her facial expression flipped back to passiveness. “Well, if  _ they  _ ask where we went, I hope you have a good cover story.”

James grinned. “You were helping me plan my next big prank, of course!”

“Naturally.” Dorcas waved at the group approaching. “So how’s the date going for everyone?”

Remus smiled, pointedly looking straight at them. “Great!”

“Sorry, James wanted to share his plans with me.” Dorcas winked and let the words hang there. All of the boys looked at James immediately, stunned he’d share any prank with his new date.

“What?” He asked. “Dorcas is really smart.” James beamed at his new friend. They would make this work. They had to. 

 


	6. James

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lowkey part 2 of last chapter

The following weeks were spent in constant people pleasing. James made a huge effort to reach out to everyone he could, in every house. And surprisingly, it was working. With Dorcas and Aberforth feeding him the information he needed, he slowly rallied support, at least temporarily, away from the elitist purebloods. James promised Quidditch secrets and love and support to anyone who would become his friend. 

He was sure his actual friend group was confused, but he couldn’t tell them quite yet. Remus had a habit of worrying, Sirius would get all unreasonable angry, and Peter would shut down. No, he had to do this part alone.

Speaking of Sirius and Remus, it had only gotten worse. Remus tried not to be in the same room as Sirius, ever. It was like he was trying not to be his friend! So strange. Now was not the time to worry about that, however.

The final visit to Hogsmeade was coming up soon, and he had just finished with speaking to Madalena, who had a surprising amount of information. He ran through the halls, looking for Dorcas. Well, looking for Lily, who was probably with Dorcas.

Sure enough, both walked with bowed heads and whispered to one another. When Dorcas saw James, she straightened immediately. “Sorry, Lily, duty calls.”

“So much for not being obsessed with a boy.” Lily sent Dorcas a mischievous smile before pausing to give James a suspicious look. “What’s about with the house unification you’ve been doing, Potter?”

James blanked out. Talking to Lily tended to do that to him. “Uh… Maybe… friends? Dorcas! Let’s go!” He fumbled. 

“That was  _ so sly,”  _ muttered Dorcas. “Whatcha need?”

“I talked to Madalena!” He explained fervently. “She gave me her support, and confirmed that Narcissa and Lucius are behind it. Again, I mean we already knew that from Henrietta- anyways, she says they’re going to send a ten-person attack into Hogsmeade, targeting at least twenty muggleborns and others they consider unsavory. Still don’t know if that includes Lily, but I’d say there’s a fat chance. Also. Only a few of them have actually mastered the Unforgivables, so most likely they’ll try and stun and… kidnap? The details got foggy there.”

“Which people are under suspicion for the attack, and which people are going to get kidnapped?” Dorcas asked quickly.

“Mostly seventh years, the two of them before and Raymond and others, I’m sure. Lily still isn’t confirmed, but here-” James pulled out a quickly taken list he got of names. He handed it to Dorcas. “Aberforth should see this. We can get adult wizards in there to protect now.”

“I don’t think so. There’s a fight going down elsewhere, and all of the aurors got called there.” Dorcas sighed and pulled at the tips of her long braids. “I don’t know who we can contact for  _ adults,  _ but at the very least, it’s enough to bring McGonagall in. The only thing I’m worried about is if we tip off  _ anyone  _ planning this, they’ll find a new plan.”

James nodded. “I think McGonagall is safe. We can defend ourselves, too. We gotta-” James had an idea, then. He could sneak out with Sirius and Remus, leave Peter to cover for them. Peter was a good liar. If he brought Sirius and Remus, they would have to talk to each other!

“I can get this list to Aberforth if you make a copy and give it to McGonagall.”

“How can you get to Aberforth? You know what, I’m beyond questioning how you four sneak around.” Dorcas rolled her eyes. “If you were Death-Eaters, I think we’d lose the war.”

James beamed. “So that means we’ll win!” He gave her the list, promising to pick it up after she had finished copying it down. Then he set off to recruit his friends.

-

“This is a bad idea,” Remus fretted. “So many chances to get caught.”

Sirius grinned. “This is the best thing we’ve done since sneaking into the restricted section of the library.” 

Remus, forgetting his silent treatment, stared at Sirius.  _ “That’s  _ how you got those books?!”

“How else would we have done it?” Sirius shuffled his feet slightly, unsure how to react with the sudden attention.

Remus narrowed his eyes at James. “I know I won’t be able to talk you out of it… When do we leave?”

James cheered. “I knew you’d come around! Tonight, after the bedroom checks.”

“Why can’t I come?” Peter whined.

James pointed at him. “You, dear boy, are the best liar out of the lot of us. You’ll stay here and cover if something goes wrong.”

Remus stood up. “So just James and I are going?”

James shook his head. “Sirius too.”

There was a moment of silence in the room where Remus and Sirius just looked at each other. Remus shrugged, looking to James. “Kay.”

“I think I’m a better liar than Peter. Maybe I should stay behind,” Sirius awkwardly said.

James glared at him. “No. You’re a piss-terrible liar. You both are coming with me.” 

-

Walking under the cloak was always awkward and took adjusting. They ended up with James in the front, followed by Remus and then Sirius. 

“Where are we even going?” Remus asked.

“Hogsmeade. Aberforth works there.” James laughed as Remus bumped into him. “Mate, we’ve done this before. Equal distance between us.” 

“Aberforth is a fake name,” murmured Sirius.

“He’s related to Dumbledore,” Remus whispered. “Whole family’s got ridiculous names.” Then he remembered being mad at Sirius and stopped talking.

“I know this is probably hypocritical coming from me, and my family of Walburga and Regulus, but jeez. That’s a stupid name,” continued Sirius.

“Sirius Orion Black,” James reminded. Then he stomped on Remus’s foot to get him to stop. Filch’s devil cat was prowling before them. It passed, and they resumed their walk.

“That hurt,” Remus complained.

“Shut up, we’re almost out of the school.” 

The three marched quietly on, finally crossing the last doorway. Once they felt they were effectively out of sight, James pulled off the cloak. “You two will have to put it on once we get to Hogsmeade, just a heads up. Aberforth will be fine with me bringing you guys, but no one else there knows you yet. You two can stay outside, alone, under the cloak. Okay?”

“Why did you even bring us then?” Sirius groaned.

James patted his cheek. “Emotional support. Come on then!”

-

James walked through Hogsmeade, followed by an invisible Remus and Sirius. They were silent. It was not actually cold outside, as it was almost officially summer. James thought he should do this more often.

He stepped onto the patio of the Hog’s Head Inn. “Just… stay here. I’ll be out in a bit.”

Without waiting for a response from the invisible two, he pushed open the door.

“Aberforth?” He called out. Despite Hogwarts being asleep, the place was alive and loud. 

He found Aberforth behind the bar, as usual.

“James, you nut. How’d you get out?”

“That’s for me to know. Anyways, I’ve got important news. Can we talk?” 

-

The plan was settled then. As many sober adult men as Aberforth could rally would join McGonagall and the line of formidable fighter students. They would hold the line against the approaching attackers. If their defense broke, James and the others would hide the possible targets and wait.

James came back outside to hear quiet laughter coming from nowhere. He heard Remus say something else that made Sirius snort. That confused him, but made him happy. Maybe they were at least a little sorted?

He nodded to the air and walked out of Hogsmeade, ducking behind the nearest tree.

“How’d it go?” Sirius asked the second they were safely undercover again.

“Great. You guys will have all details soon, but thanks for coming.”

Remus smiled at Sirius. “Yeah, it was fun.”

“So are you going to explain when you became a spy?” Sirius said, avoiding Remus’ eye. “Because Cissy is my cousin, and I’m not sure she’d do something like  _ this.  _ Like, she’s not a good person, but this is a downright  _ awful  _ person.”

James looked at him for a moment. How could he not… understand? “I can’t tell you names yet, but all my information has come from the Slytherins themselves. Look, let’s had back to the castle. I’ll explain as much as I can on the way.”

“Deal,” Remus affirmed.

-

The town was quiet. It felt like one of those western muggle movies that Remus had shown him. He walked with his hand tightly wrapped around his wand, Remus and Sirius on either side of him. Dorcas took Peter and Marlene with her on the other end of Hogsmeade. Lily stayed with Mary inside Hogwarts to keep all of the muggleborns out of the firefight.

Frank Longbottom turned back to them, face somber. “Be careful, you three. You might be some of the most talented wizards of your age, but it doesn’t change the fact you’re young. I don’t even want you here. And Sirius, if you face your family, I need to know you won’t endanger us.”

“It won’t be a problem,” Sirius quickly promised. 

James inhaled sharply. “Here they come.” He looked across their line, seeing everyone who had come to protect them. It was relieving to see that not everyone was a bad person. Remus drew his wand, eyes hard. “They won’t break our line.”

“Wait, that’s…” Sirius blinked, surprise written across his face. “There’s Bellatrix. She graduated a few years back. I thought they were only using the ones  _ at  _ Hogwarts.”

James sighed. “They must have completed their recruitment faster than I thought they would.” 

McGonagall lifted her chin and walked a few steps ahead of their line. “Death Eaters, you have no business here. Turn back now.”

“It’s a  _ wizarding  _ school. We’re just here to make sure only wizards are in there. Unless you have something to hide, there shouldn’t be a problem in letting us come in!” Their leader came from the end of the group, slowly walking in the front. Remus stiffened beside James.

“That-that’s Greyback. Werewolf, strong supporter of You-Know-Who,” he told James.

“I’m guessing he’s a bad dog then?”

Remus just stared at him.

Minerva shook her head. “Everyone in attendance has just as much of a right to be there as the purebloods, Fenrir. Bold of you to appear, since you’re supposed to be in Azkaban.” Remus grimaced at that.

“There’s been a breakout… I guess hearing may be going with old age,” Fenrir commented, laughing. “I see you have the mutt and the blood traitors front and center.”

James watched his professor’s eyes harden. “They’re standing up for their lives. As are the rest of us. Advance no further, or we’ll be forced to open fire.”

“We have children amongst us, Minnie. Are you sure you’re willing to chance it?” He waved at the crowd. Half of the group wore masks, obscuring their features, but he was certain they were all children.

James remembered the spell that McGonagall had drilled them in.  _ To knock them out, no permanent damage. The authorities will handle it from there. _

What she said was different, however. “Everyone on your side of the line has made their choice.”

“We won’t back down,” Fenrir warned.

“Then you will be forced down.”

And so the battle began. Everyone threw up shielding charms immediately, deflecting an alarming number of green spells. Orders were shot off, and the group had to wonder if McGonagall had been in this position before. 

Remus shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He murmured some long incantation under his breath that sprung up a series of outward facing spikes along their side of the line. Sirius instantly pressed against his side, argument completely forgotten. A shield sprung up on the far end of the spikes, shoving some of the Death Eaters back.

James gave out a war cry and fired off as many disarming spells as he could properly pronounce. It was considerably less effective, by comparison, but it worked. The less trained children had their wands sent sailing. 

One of the Death Eaters leapt up and snatched a wand out of the air. With a familiar voice he couldn’t place, she fired off an Unforgivable which collided with Frank Longbottom. The boy hit the ground, screaming and back arching in pain. 

Aberforth stepped forward with a deep roar and knocked her clean out. “Remus! We need you over here!”

Without thinking, the werewolf pulled Sirius with him, hand tight in hand. Sirius flung a curse, stunning one of the nearest Death Eaters. “Stay safe, James! We’ll be back soon!”

James nodded and continued his wild assault. 

-

The battle lasted an hour. Eventually the Death Eaters- those conscious, ran off. Most were left passed out on the cobblestone ground. Of course, their side had suffered losses too, but the victory was evident.

Their line had held.

James hugged McGonagall fiercely. “Thank you for listening to me.” 

McGonagall pushed him back slightly, inspecting him for injuries. “Thank  _ you,  _ Potter, for getting us the information about the attack. If you didn’t, I dare not think about the casualties today.”

James grinned up at her. “It’s what I do best. I need to go find my friends now. We won!”

“Yes, we did.” She smiled fondly at him while he started running off to find the other three of his friends in the line. He hadn’t seen Sirius and Remus after Aberforth called for them. Peter, on the other hand, never said hello that morning and instead hung nervously by Dorcas’s side.

James let out a victorious whoop when he saw Sirius and Remus, who were speaking quietly together. “Oi, Sirius! Remus!” 

Sirius startled away from Remus, eyes lighting up when he saw James. “You didn’t die!”

“Damn straight! I’m alive and thriving! Neither of you wankers died either!”

Remus laughed, punching James’s shoulder lightly. “You’re one to talk, James.”

“I can’t believe you managed to walk away with no injuries. I assumed you’d be, like, the punching bag of the other side.” Sirius smiled crookedly.

“You being all lanky and giving away their secrets,” Remus teased.

James waved them off. “They couldn’t touch me if they tried, please! You, Sirius, on the other hand…”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sirius lifted his chin haughtily. “I have  _ experience  _ with those people, and you don’t, remember?”

James gestured to a long cut across his arm. “Got hit with a whip charm, did you?”

Sirius tucked his arm behind his back. “It’s barely bleeding.”

Remus seemed to only notice then, clucking disappointedly. “Sirius, I didn’t see! Here-” He lifted his leg up to tear off the cuff of his pant leg. More than that actually, he started to wrap Sirius’s arm after conjuring some clear liquid to run over it. 

“My mom taught me how to dress a wound like this. And that black crusty stuff tells me it’s, uh, black magic. So can’t heal it regularly.” Remus finished the makeshift cover.

Sirius rolled his eyes. “Everyone has injuries. I don’t need to be mothered… Besides, mate, don’t you want to get back to the dorms so Lily can swoon over you?” 

Remus rolled his eyes. “I could ask the same about you and Marlene.” He stepped away from Sirius then, and James wanted to scream. Well, at least they were talking again.

James clapped his hands. “Back to Hogwarts we go.”

-

Back at the Gryffindor tower, they were instantly met with a celebration. Someone hung streamers everywhere and even let a disco ball tangle overhead. The fractured light sent shards of crimson over the table stocked full of sweets and some… ‘Water’-based drinks. Enough older kids winked at him for him to know it wasn’t. 

Remus looked about in wonder. “This is incredible! They even got the color scheme right!”

Mary appeared by their sides suddenly, grabbing his arm. “We’re playing truth or dare! C’mon!” 

James laughed, snagging a drink on his way. His friends were all sitting in a circle, roaring with shouts and whatnot. He sat down, immediately bombarded with adoration. They all cheered haphazardly. “Look at the  _ Hero of Gryffindor!” _

He told himself not to, but did it anyways, looking to Lily to gauge her reaction. A small smile played at her lips, and when she made eye contact, she offered a slight nod. Then, she went back to fussing over Remus in a whisper.

That would do for now. “Are we gonna get this game started or what?” James prodded. His friends cheered once more, settling back into the circle.

Marlene waved her hand. “Oh! I want to go first! Peter, truth or dare?”

Peter looked at her for a quick second, trying to gauge which would be worse. “Truth.” 

Marlene shot a smug glance to someone in the group. “Are you going to ask Mary out for another date?”

“Oh! Well…” Peter’s cheeks flooded red, and he ducked his head slightly. After a few seconds, he shrugged. “Um, if she wants to, I’d like to.”

Marlene lead the group in cheering then. “Okay, your turn!”

“James, truth or dare?” he said before taking a long sip of his drink, trying to ease his embarrassment at being called out.

James grinned. “Dare, obviously.”

“I dare you to…” Peter glanced around the room, searching for something good. Finally, a pleased smile crossed his face. “To ask out Alice right in front of Frank.”

James took a deep breath. “Fine.” He stood up and walked over to Alice. “Hey, Alice, wanna go on a date with me?”

She laughed then. “Dumbass. No, I’m good. Thanks.” 

“Besides, I heard you were going for a certain redhead. Oh wait,” Frank added, throwing his arm around Alice’s shoulders.

James flipped him off, offended. “Not all of us have perfect love-lives, Frank. Anyways, I’ll see you guys at Quidditch.” He returned to the group with a shrug. “So it goes, ‘twas not meant to be.”

“Probably because she’s  _ prefect,  _ and you’re the problem child of our grade.” Marlene offered her best, shit-eating grin to James. 

“Fine, Marlene! Truth or dare.”

“Dare.” She crossed her arms. “I’m tough stuff, y’know.”

“Sure. I want you to write a love letter to Slughorn then. Keep it brief, just the juicy stuff.”

She nodded proudly, summoning paper and a quill with her wand. With a dramatic flourish of the quill, she started writing. “Let’s see…  _ ‘Dear Slughorn, I think your name really works. Because I’m horny for you.’” _

Their group roared with laughter then over the idea of… that.

“That’s brief enough. Dorcas, truth or dare?” Marlene singsonged.

“Truth,” Dorcas smiled. 

She debated, leaning in to Sirius to confer what a good truth would be. Finally, she figured out what she wanted. “Okay, screw marry kill. You-Know-Who, Dumbledore, Fudge.”

“Gross. Marry Dumbledore, screw Fudge, kill… You-Know-Who. Obviously.” She faked a gag at the thought. Then staring straight at her victim, she asked “Sirius, truth or dare?”

He beamed. “Dare. Duh.”

Determinedly not looking at any of the girls, she smirked. “Kiss Remus, best as you know how.”

Marlene gasped. “Hey, wait!”

Sirius groaned theatrically. “Don’t worry, Marls. As long as Remus is okay with it, I’m down… It won’t mean anything anyway.”

Remus flushed and nodded slowly. “Oh yeah- I’m cool. Lily…?”

“I’m not going to kill the party,” she said, making eye contact with Sirius. He rolled his eyes before leaning across the circle. 

Before he actually kissed Remus, he paused. “Like, a makeout kiss or a first kiss?”

Dorcas thought for a moment. Then she laughed. “Just make us all wish we were him. Whatever that means to you.” 

Remus looked at James, ears and cheeks a good, true red. Which confused James. Isn’t that how he should act with Lily?

Sirius closed his eyes and tenderly pressed his lips to Remus, and it felt incredibly private for whatever reason. Most of the girls averted their gazes, giggling and blushing. Lily gave James an odd look though, a question clear in her eyes.

When the two finally parted, Remus had his hand in Sirius’s hair, the other on the ground to avoid falling over. The two kept eye contact, either both confused or having a silent conversation. 

Then, Sirius cleared his throat and the moment was over. “I think I’m bleeding through my bandage.”


End file.
